Touring chef puts down roots in Morgan Hill

Chef Dustin Evanger’s ever-changing menu sounds creative and crazy, what with the wild boar burgers topped with peach barbecue sauce one day, the mac ’n’ cheese balls that you dip into a smoked sriracha sauce, and a bar list of boozy (and very popular) adult slushies that he calls “slurries.”

But it’s nothing compared with his résumé.

This former Monterey County high school track star trained at culinary school, then became a touring chef — first for country star Kenny Chesney and then with Cirque du Soleil. (He’s also been a corporate chef and a country club chef.) Now he’s the chef-owner of The Hill Bar & Grill, a food, bar and music venue in downtown Morgan Hill that’s housed in the circa 1928 Granada Theater building.

“Our research told us there is a lot of town pride” in Morgan Hill, Evanger says, so he and his team worked with the Morgan Hill Historical Society to incorporate old photos into the decor of the building.

Sorry, country fans: You won’t find any Chesney faves on the menu here. Evanger says the singer was strictly a grilled salmon or chicken with steamed veggies kind of guy, and you don’t have to go out to a restaurant to find that.